New kit! Katusha

I’ve always been a bit neutral about Katusha. I’ve never seen them do particularly well in races, they’ve never had any riders I’ve cheered for, and most of their names are too hard to pronounce. I was likewise ambivalent about their kit. I didn’t like it overly much, but I appreciated the way their kit was different but not ugly.

This year, however, the changes they’ve made have me taking notice. Red is one of my favorite colors (along with blue!) and I love how they’ve forgone the city skyline for solid red. I prefer the more solid red color to the mixed red and blue of the previous kit- it made it too messy, too jumbled. It’s a bright, cherry red that will stand out in the peloton. And putting white as the contrasting color makes it pop even more, unlike the BMC kits, which pair their red with black.

I also really like how they’ve kept their team name in their native Cyrillic script, instead of using the western alphabet. It makes it feel like a true Russian team AND makes me feel cool because I know how to say it.

They’ve done a good job with their national championship jerseys as well. I’m a fan of the white kit and the national colors look good!

Let’s also take a moment to appreciate how they’ve staged their team photos. Apart from the strange stormy sky (that seems to threaten a tornado), they look relaxed and natural on their bikes. Sometimes team photos can get darn weird.

This year, for example, the award so far goes to Astana. They have awkward beach photos

Vino giving a very forced thumbs up

and someone staring moodily through a bike frame.

But there’s still time for another team to outdo them. How could we forget the pillow shots of Quick Step last year?